Needing a pinion bearing retaining ring please!

[Damian GT]

Hi all,

Looking for the pinion retaining ring for a 1931 (long nose banjo) rear axle. Managed to find a torque tube for my axle build at Beaulieu thanks to Tom Hunt - now the search begins for the ring that secures the pinion bearings into the bottom of the torque tube.  If you have one tucked away somewhere I would be most grateful.. Thanks very much..

[Chris KC]

Damian,
Sorry I don't have a spare, but I do have a '31 axle in bits on my bench at the moment, so if there's anything you'd like photographed or measured up it's a great time to ask...
Cheers,
Chris

[Damian GT]

Yes please Chris.  That would be much appreciated - any photos of the 'exploded' view would be much appreciated and particularly if you can get me an image of the pinion bearing ring that would be great so I can post it for others to see - I'm hoping my definition makes sense - we're talking about the the ring that screws into the bottom of the torque tube to retain the bearings of course!!  Thanks for your help..

[Chris KC]

Will try and take some pics tonight.

[Chris KC]

Hi Damian,

First an exploded view (from J. Platt's catalogue, with apologies to all concerned)

   

Photo of front end parts - n.b. I'm missing the flange nut at present.
So it goes nut - lock washer - flange - key - bearing retainer - bearing (R&M LJ7/8)

   

Photo of rear end parts
Nut - lock washer - A/C bearing pair (R&M LJT1, thrust faces together) - bearing retainer - distance piece - bearing (R&M MJ1)
n.b. if you're super observant you'll notice my bearing nut has a RH thread, apparently not many do.
My distance piece is rather worn and I think not original; but consensus is it should be 0.625" long.
Note that the A/C bearing pair are 'specials' ground to fit the installation.

   

Here's a close up of the bearing retainer

   

The retainer is 0.585" deep, 2.485" OD, 1.935" ID, 0.15" flange thickness, 4 equispaced slots on flange OD each 0.25" wide and approx. 0.05" deep, it has a RH thread* about 2.305" OD 2.235" root dia & 16 TPI, with 0.075" undercut up to the flange (all measured quickly with vernier calipers).
*note that LH thread retainers were used too

Finally a shot of the set-up I will use to measure run-out of the crown wheel / diff cage, not quite there yet as it needs to be bolted up, CW in place etc. I only add this snap because when Jack French - for whom I had the greatest respect - said 'spin it on a half shaft' I think it was an off-hand remark and you need something a bit more robust if you are going to measure 0.004" precisely.

   

Hope this answers your question Damian and do let me know if you need anything more, I can just as easily add the banjo end parts if you need them.

[Damian GT]

Hi Damian,

First an exploded view (from J. Platt's catalogue, with apologies to all concerned)



Photo of front end parts - n.b. I'm missing the flange nut at present.
So it goes nut - lock washer - flange - key - bearing retainer - bearing (R&M LJ7/8)



Photo of rear end parts
Nut - lock washer - A/C bearing pair (R&M LJT1, thrust faces together) - bearing retainer - distance piece - bearing (R&M MJ1)
n.b. if you're super observant you'll notice my bearing nut has a RH thread, apparently not many do.
My distance piece is rather worn and I think not original; but consensus is it should be 0.625" long.



Here's a close up of the bearing retainer



The retainer is 0.585" deep, 2.485" OD, 1.935" ID, 0.15" flange thickness, 4 equispaced slots on flange OD each 0.25" wide and approx. 0.05" deep, it has a RH thread about 2.305" OD 2.235" root dia & 16 TPI, with 0.075" undercut up to the flange (all measured quickly with vernier calipers).

Finally a shot of the set-up I will use to measure run-out of the crown wheel / diff cage, not quite there yet as it needs to be bolted up, CW in place etc. I only add this snap because when Jack French - for whom I had the greatest respect - said 'spin it on a half shaft' I think it was an off-hand remark and you need something a bit more robust if you are going to measure 0.004" precisely.



Hope this answers your question Damian and do let me know if you need anything more, I can just as easily add the banjo end parts if you need them.

Thanks Chris - that is absolutely excellent - much appreciated.  It would be good if we could switch all these images to the main thread so they don't end up buried in the 'wants' section.. BW Damian.

[Damian GT]

Thanks to all forum contributors who have helped me source the missing bits for the axle.  I'm nearly there but just realised that I've got a mismatched set of brake shoes.  These are the 1 1/4 inch shoes and as you can see I've got three correct ones and a stray (stray is third one down in the image and has a canted limb to it - not sure which model it came from but certainly isn't going to work).  Is there anyone out there who can help me find one more to match the set.  Happy to pay of course, so this goes in Sales and Wants too.  Pictures of the bitsa axle at the current stage of development!

[Damian GT]

Thanks again to forum friends - have now arranged a swap.  Thanks again for all the help.